crüe intentiöns

Week 3:

Captain Ryan Karns and ‘Mötley Blüe’ are smokin’ (both in, and out of the boys room) out of the gate, having torched their first two opponents for twelve goals on their way to a 2-0-0 start. Captain Joel Gattey’s ‘Creaming For Vengeance’ took the loss in their opener against the league’s clear and present powerhouse, but their five goal losing effort should serve notice that they can blaze with the big boys (and girls)…

Grey and Red met in Week Two as ‘no win twins’, with both having suffered a one goal loss in their opener. Newcomer, Eugene DeSantis, provided the only goal Grey would need in the second, then added another for good measure late in the period to stake his team to a 2-0 Week Two win. Fellow first year, Joe Gaudio, provided the lone leg-up on both strikes, and Don Tran locked up the shop in cousin Chris’ absence with a 22/22 clean sheet. Andrew Lockard (20/22) absorbed his second loss in as many games, in spite of a solid (and at times, sparking) performance. Grey can certainly draw encouragement from the contributions of their new arrivals, especially as they continue to await any word of a possible return for top striker, London Peters. Red will need to regroup, and find their scoring touch against a dangerous Cream team in Week Three.

Another pair of winless teams limped into the arena for the second game of the second week. Captain Steve Goncalo and his as-yet-unnamed Brown band were more than ready to put a Week One 6-2 beat down at the hands of our cover team behind them, while ‘Wirt(h) Snake’ was happy to put Mr. Malki and his ‘sweet child’ in their rearview and focus forward. Neither team was able to do damage through the first, and most of the second, but long lost veteran, Steve Scott, finally solved Don Tran (with the sole assist to even-longer-lost veteran, Geoff Downes), and Maureen Ruchhoeft doubled the lead for Brown just fourteen seconds later. Ruchhoeft’s tally would stand as the game-winner, thanks to White’s lone counterstrike from Josh Wirt less than a minute later. So…all of the game’s scoring crammed into 1:01 of playing time, with Brown holding on for the 2-1 win over White. Nick Vacchio’s 21/22 was just what he needed to secure his first win of the season, outdueling old man Don Tran (14/16) to bring his team’s record even through two weeks of play.

This season has so far separated the Salt man (Zach) from the Salt boy (Jon). I kid…Jon is actually older…but boy, he must be having some separation anxiety, thus far. Captain Zach led his team to another win in Week Two with a one and one outing, and he now has four points in two games (to big brother’s zero), and…oh yeah, he won the head-to-head battle in Week One. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at A Very Special Salt Thanksgiving! Justin Stege opened the scoring for Purple in the second, and rookie, Aaron Cooney, followed with the game-winner later in the frame. Rob Gaudio (speaking of younger brothers) responded for ‘Black Slappath’ at 4:32 in the third, but Captain Salt signed and sealed the 3-1 win with his second of the season to move his team to 2-0-0. Alex Theis was his typical beastly self (14/15) behind the ranks of ‘Purple Reign’, while Wayne Wong’s goaltending debut was a valiant, but vain 15/18 losing effort.

Captain Karns’ team has firepower…UMLAUT of fire power. Speaking of umlauts…I owe to this team the fact that I have now memorized the alt keyboard codes for ö and ü…but, I digress. Captain Gattey’s team managed to cool their competitors in the first, as a pair of Dan Jurgens goals bookended an Andrew Jacobsen jab. The Blue beast stirred and struck hard in the second, with Jacobsen evening the score with his second of the game, then assisting on Alan Razoky’s go-ahead notch. Gideon Schon followed with a power play marker, and Razoky ripped home another to give Blue a 5-2 lead going into the final ten. Cream rose to the challenge, with three unanswered answers from Wendy Enright, Jon Champine, and Jerry Gonzales to bring things back level at five apiece with less than five minutes to play. It was Razoky again…but this time Alaa Razoky with the game-winner to cap a completely crazy contest (and complete the carpel tunnel chaos for the poor scorer), 6-5, Blue over Cream. Mostafa Azab (Blue), and first year forward, Derek Baxter (White) each recorded two assists in the point parade. Chuck Bender (13/18) won the war of attrition over Steve Deppensmith (10/16), but neither netminder will be putting this scrap in their scrapbook for posterity.

Sadie Hellstrom wasted no time putting ‘Sweet Child O’ Malki’ on the board, converting a Tyler Winstead assist just 1:17 into play. It was more Malki magic from there, as Captain Joe netted the game-winner late in the first, then assisted on pop’s power play poke early in the second. Eric Willard finally found a response for ‘Twisted Citrus’, a short-handed conversion from Captain Casey, but Nicholas Meglich (12/13) and Green would hold on for the 3-1 win. Cory Brin (25/28) weathered the storm well, but ended without a win in Week Two. Green will put their 2-0-0 record on the line against one of only two other unbeatens (Blue) in Week Three…definitely our featured matchup this Sunday.

Level Check

Week 1:

Every band was an opener in Week One of the Fall Tour, but at least one act is already looking like a headliner. Mötley Blüe unleashed (Nikki) Six on Brown to account for the only smash hit, while the rest of the set list was tighter than a snare. The tune up continues this Sunday, as Cream come to the stage to jam out the jitters and look to make some noise.

What better way to kick off a music-themed season than with a brotherly rivalry to rival that of Noel and Liam Gallagher? This season, it is the younger Salt fronting his own band, ‘Purple Reign’, while old man Jon makes plans to survive the ‘Goins ‘N’ Roses’ tour with a strict regimen of yoga, coconut water, and vegan cuisine. Zach had the first and last laugh in Week One, providing the primary assist on rookie Cory Samuel’s first career goal in the first (with Aaron Cooney providing the second assist for his first career point). Nadia Saidi Connolly gave Purple a 2-0 advantage (the first of FIVE female goals on the evening), and Captain Zach Salt himself pumped the lead to three. Old man Salt would not make the score sheet, but Red did make a comeback, starting with REALLY old man Linke’s tally with 0:13 to play in the second. Kim Hernandez kept the girl power percolating to cut the lead to one on the power play with 1:52 remaining, but Alex Theis (18/20) held the lead to lead Purple to a 3-2 opening week win. Andrew Lockard (13/16) suffered the loss in his return to league play, and the once-mighty OG Salt was left with only the sense that he’s ‘still mom’s favorite’.

It was another mainstay captaining family in action for act two on the night, with Captain Joe Malki leading the charge for ‘Greensrÿche’. Joe broke a scoreless tie early in the second, and assisted his old man on an insurance notch in the third, as Green rocked and rolled past White, 3-1. Harsh Wanigaratne netted the game-winner less than a minute prior to Green’s third goal, and Josh Wirt produced the only response for White just over a minute later, but Nick Meglich (14/15) was sure and steady to the finish. Sure and steady is one thing, but absolutely working miracles is another. Enter Don Tran. The veteran stopped 29/32 in the loss, but earned second star honors for withstanding Green’s sizzling shot storm, and giving his team a fighting chance to the end.

Captain Ryan Karns ushered ‘Mötley Blüe’ to the stage with hopes of a strong set from a band featuring quite a few virtuosos. He might not have expected quite the level of pyrotechnics that transpired, as Alan Razoky absolutely shredded Brown, dropping a hat trick, a helper, and the mic in a smash and bash 6-2 romp. Keeping with both the family and femme fatale Week One theme, Alaa Razoky followed her brother’s early second period goal with one of her own (with Raj Cheema recording his first career assist). Captain Steve Goncalo and Brian Sheptycki traded assists on each other’s goals to even the score, but Alan ripped home the game-winner with his second late in the second. It was Kerri Sevenbergen for the fourth goal of the night (both for Blue, and for the SDFHL female contingent), then an Andrew Jacobsen sighting, and the feather in Alan’s hat trick to round out the scoring. Nick Vacchio took the loss with a 13/19 effort, while Chuck Bender enjoyed the show from his end, collecting the win with an 8/10 line.

The penultimate game brought the parity party back, as ‘The Rolling Gladstones’ and ‘Twisted Citrus’ engaged in an intimate duet. Mark DeGraffenreid got Grey off on the right foot in the first, tucking a rebound past nemesis netminder, Cory Brin. Orange countered, then conquered in the second, as rookie David Clark swatted home his first career goal to settle the score, and remorseless killing machine, Eric Herrmann, scorched a snapper over sub Sean Kelly’s shoulder to give Orange a 2-1 edge they would not relinquish. Brin earned the win with a sparkling 21/22 performance, just outdueling Da Kid (21/23) who was no less sparkly, but simply stung by a sweet story (Clark’s first) and the strength of the league’s new scoring sensation (The Herrmannator).

If you’ve ever been to a concert, you know they typically save the best for last. Holy hell…this game was not just the best of the night, but one of the best I’ve seen in a while. The final chapter of the ‘family and females’ tale was penned in the first period, as Jeremy Copp’s long range wrister found room over Cory Brin’s shoulder, and Hima Joshi’s body bounced home Jim LaGrossa’s second setup of the night to give ‘Sean Bon Joshi’ a two goal lead through the first. A scintillating, yet scoreless second was mostly the Sean Kelly show. Kelly finished with a line of 29/31, but any mortal would have been lucky to muster 21/31. The lopsided shots (Brin went 13/15, by contrast) finally showed up as stats for ‘Black Slappath’, as Rob Gaudio and Captain Nick Vacchio scored within the same minute to produce the 2-2 stalemate that would stand as the final score. Jeff Anderson matched Jim LaGrossa with primaries on both Black markers, and Emily Bennington put in one last punch for the ladies in Week One with a second assist on Black’s first.

Rock On!

Your bandmates are assembled, you are (hopefully) out of rehab (for that bad ankle, I mean), and it’s time to hit the SDFHL Fall League 2021-2022 road and start knocking out gigs! Fire up the amps, and get ready to make some noise, as league play commences this Sunday!

Brown Delivers

Playoff Finals:

SDFHL Summer League 2021 Champions: ‘tRan Outta Toilet Pynnper’

Back Row L→R: Marc LaPointe, Elyse Shattuck, Mark Ennsmann, Shelby Shattuck, Craig Russell, Payam Sazegar
Front Row L→R: Jordan Pynn, Don Tran, Mark Nagy (C), Jeff Henderson
Not Pictured: Matt Rogers

Box is up…recaps to come…

One Two Punch

Playoffs Week 4:

It was a double knockout night in Week Four, and the five seed (the lowest remaining seed in the tournament) watched one beat two, then won over one to advance to the Final against three. It will be Captain Malki’s Black facing Captain Nagy’s Brown in a one (or two) round bout to leave no doubt…

Captain Jon Salt was back in the lineup after a one game paternity leave, and both benches were filled to the brim for the final boss v boss fight that is one v two. Both goalies were sharp, but naval sub, Nick Meglich saw nine shots to Alex Theis’ one through a scoreless first period. The lopsided shooting continued, but the scorelessness subsided in the second frame, as Josh Wirt cashed in not once, but twice. Meglich (26/28) kept Navy alive under the avalanche the rest of the way, and Zach Salt thickened the plot with 1:17 remaining in regulation, but it was Wirt again with empty net emphasis, and Eric Willard with empty net echo to bring the final in favor of Yellow, 4-1. Willard and Bill Casey each collected two assists, and Alex Theis stopped 10/11 to keep the regular season champs moving forward…

…into an absolute thriller of a Losers’ Bracket final! Sean Kelly v Alex Theis…enough said. Black was on the front foot in the first, treating Ty’s tired side to a slanted shot total (9-2) nearly identical to the margin Yellow enjoyed over Navy. Joe Malki put one of those nine shots past Alex Theis (assist to Erin Dowrey), and Black would maintain that 1-0 lead into and through the second period. It was Captain Ty Pereira himself who would finally bring Yellow level at 5:35 in the third (assist to Bill Casey). The predictable, but no less awe-inspiring goalie grudge match pushed this one into extra time, and it seemed this one was destined for a ‘for the ages’ shootout. Newcomer (and Kamal Gill replacement), Adam Williams, snuffed out any such sizzle, and made a name for himself with a sharp angle snapper at 1:38 remaining in OT to slay the big, bad, Yellow dragon, and move Black on to the promised land, 2-1.

Brown edged Black 1-0 in Week Three of playoff action, after getting smacked around in a 5-0 loss back in Week Two of the regular season. Both teams feature top flight goaltending, great team chemistry, and dynamic scoring. It should be a great one (or two)…come out and join us for the action starting at 6:00pm this Sunday. Actually, come out and play before the game(s) start by signing up for the final open session here.